Tennessee Volunteer State Book Award 2010-11

1. Tennessee Volunteer State Book Award 2010-11

2. History of the Volunteer State Book Award The Volunteer State Book Award is sponsored annually by the Tennessee Library Association in cooperation with the Tennessee Association of School Librarians. Each year, children are asked to read books from a list of nominated titles. In the Spring, those students who have read or listened to at least three of the titles from the list are eligible to vote for their favorite. These votes are tabulated and sent to the state organization. The book with the most votes statewide wins the award. The author of the book receives a plaque and is invited to Tennessee to receive the award. GA Peach Book Award Nominee 2010-2011

3. 2010 Winner!! Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

4. Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson As the Revolutionary War begins, thirteen-year-old Isabel wages her own fight...for freedom. Promised freedom upon the death of their owner, she and her sister, Ruth, in a cruel twist of fate become the property of a malicious New York City couple. . When Isabel meets Curzon, a slave with ties to the Patriots, he encourages her to spy on her owners, who know details of British plans for invasion. The unthinkable happens to Ruth, Isabel realizes her loyalty is available to the bidder who can provide her with freedom . GA Peach Book Award Nominee 2010-2011

5. The Boy Who Dared by Susan Bartoletti The majority of the story is told through flashbacks, as Helmuth waits in jail for his execution. Starting with his memories as a young boy, he recounts his childhood growing up with his mother, grandparents, two brothers, and future stepfather Hugo. Arjun got caught and killed. As he grows older, Helmuth stands out as an abnormally intelligent young man and becomes very opinionated about the Nazi government. He begins to secretly listen to enemy radio broadcasts, and enlists the help of two of his closest friends in distributing anti-Nazi propaganda GA Peach Book Award Nominee 2010-2011

6. Shift by Jennifer Bradbury When Chris & Winston take off on a post-graduation cross-country bike trek, Chris's hopes are high. He's looking forward to seeing the country, dodging a dull summer at a minimum wage job, and having one final adventure with his oldest friend. The journey from Hurricane, West Virginia to the coast of Washington state delivers all those things... and more. But when an FBI agent begins asking questions—and raising suspicions about Chris—he learns that saying goodbye to a friend like Win is never as simple as riding away. What happens when you outgrow your best friend? GA Peach Book Award Nominee 2010-2011

7. What I saw and How I Liedby Judy Blundell When Evie's father returned home from WWII, the family fell back into its normal life pretty quickly. But Joe Spooner brought more back with him than just good war stories. When movie-star handsome Peter Coleridge, a young ex-GI who served in Joe's company in postwar Austria, shows up, Evie is suddenly caught in a complicated web of lies that she only slowly recognizes. She finds herself falling for Peter, ignoring the secrets that surround him . . . until a tragedy occurs that shatters her family and breaks her life in two. Evie must get to the heart of the deceptions and choose between her loyalty to her parents and her feelings for the man she loves. Someone will have to be betrayed. The question is . . who? GA Peach Book Award Nominee 2010-2011

8. The Truth About Truman Schoolby Dori Butler The story of middle school cyber bullying as seen through the eyes of: Zebby…  she just wants to tell the truth. Amr…  he wants people to understand that he is just as American as anyone else. Lilly…  she wants to be popular. Hayley…  she IS popular. Brianna…  she wants to be Hayley’s B.F.F. Trevor…  he just wants to be left alone. GA Peach Book Award Nominee 2010-2011

9. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banksby E. Lockhart Over the course of one summer, Frankie Landau-Banks, a somewhat geeky girl with an unassuming nature, has developed into a 15-year-old with an attention-grabbing figure, a new attitude, and sights set on making changes at her elite boarding school in this novel (Hyperion, 2008) by W. Lockhart. The teenager also has a new boyfriend, a gorgeous senior who belongs to a long-standing secret society on campus—The Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds, known mostly for silly pranks and a history of male-only membership. With a witty, sharp, and intelligently scheming mind, Frankie manipulates the Loyal Order to do her bidding with pranks meant to make a political statement about the male-dominated and classist nature of the school. GA Peach Book Award Nominee 2010-2011

10. Graceling  by Kristin Cashore Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight—she’s a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king’s thug. She never expects to fall in love with beautiful Prince Po. She never expects to learn the truth behind her Grace—or the terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone. GA Peach Book Award Nominee 2010-2011

11. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins Sixteen-year-old Katniss, who lives in a world where a powerful government called the Capitol has risen up after several devastating disasters. The Hunger Games are an annual televised event where the Capitol chooses one boy and one girl from each district to a fight. The purpose of the Hunger Games is to show how no one, including children are above the Capitol's power. The last person standing wins the game. Collins says that the idea for The Hunger Games came from channel surfing on the T.V., and that the Greek myth of Theseus serves as inspiration for the book. She also says that her father fighting in the Vietnam War helped her understand how it feels to fear the loss of a loved one.

12. Waiting For Normal by Leslie Connor Addie is waiting for normal. But Addie's mom has an all-or-nothing approach to life: a food fiesta or an empty pantry, jubilation or gloom, her way or no way. All or nothing never adds up to normal. All or nothing can't bring you all to home, which is exactly where Addie longs to be, with her half sisters, every day. In spite of life's twists and turns, Addie remains optimistic. Someday, maybe, she'll find normal. GA Peach Book Award Nominee 2010-2011

13. The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Maryby Candace Fleming Here are the extraordinary lives of Abraham and Mary, from their disparate childhoods and tumultuous courtship, through the agony of the Civil War, to the loss of three of their children, and finally their own tragic deaths. Readers can find Mary’s recipe for Abraham’s favorite cake—and bake it themselves; hear what Abraham looked like as a toddler; see a photo of the Lincolns’ dog; discover that the Lincoln children kept goats at the White House; see the Emancipation Proclamation written in Lincoln’ s own hand. This book provides a living breathing portrait of a man, a woman, and a country. GA Peach Book Award Nominee 2010-2011

14. Beastly by Alex FLinn I am a beast. A beast. Not quite wolf or bear, gorilla or dog, but a horrible new creature who walks upright – a creature with fangs and claws and hair springing from every pore. I am a monster. You think I’m talking fairy tales? No way. The place is New York City. The time is now. It’s no deformity, no disease. And I’ll stay this way forever – ruined – unless I can break the spell. Yes, the spell, the one the witch in my English class cast on me. Why did she turn me into a beast who hides by day and prowls by night? I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you how I used to be Kyle Kingsbury, the guy you wished you were, with money, perfect looks, and a perfect life. And then, I’ll tell you how I became perfectly beastly GA Peach Book Award Nominee 2010-2011

15. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead. There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy-an ancient Indigo Man beneath the hill, a gateway to a desert leading to an abandoned city of ghouls, the strange and terrible menace of the Sleer. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod's family. . . . GA Peach Book Award Nominee 2010-2011

16. Paper Towns by John Green Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs back into his life–dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge–he follows. After their all-nighter ends and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues–and they’re for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees of the girl he thought he knew. GA Peach Book Award Nominee 2010-2011

17. Repossessed by A.M. Jenkins Kiriel is a fallen angel with a dead-end job in Hell. Bored and fed up, he decides to take an unauthorized vacation by taking over the body of a teenager just before he dies. He knows he will only have a few days at best before he is caught and punished, but he's determined to experience as much of human life as he can in that time. But life as a human is much more complicated than he realized GA Peach Book Award Nominee 2010-2011

18. Playing with Matches by Brian Katcher SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD LEON SANDERS has a mug that looks like it should be hanging in a post office somewhere. If he didn't have his twisted sense of humor, he'd have nothing at all. So it's no wonder to Leon and his friends that the gorgeous Amy Green will never even look twice at him.However, there is one girl who might: Melody Hennon. Everyone at Zumner High keeps their distance from Melody because she was burned in a childhood accident. Leon has avoided her, too, until the day he tells her a bad joke and makes her laugh. Although Leon worries what people will think of him dating Melody, he's happy to have someone in his life who thinks he's special. That is, happy until Amy Green asks him out after Leon saves her from getting detention. GA Peach Book Award Nominee 2010-2011

19. Savvyby Ingrid Law For generations, the Beaumont family has harbored a magical secret. They each possess a "savvy" -a special supernatural power that strikes when they turn thirteen. Grandpa Bomba moves mountains, her older brothers create hurricanes and spark electricity . . . and now it's the eve of Mibs's big day. But suddenly Poppa has been in a terrible accident. Mibs develops the singular mission to get to the hospital and prove that her new power can save her dad. So she sneaks onto a salesman's bus . . . only to find the bus heading in the opposite direction. Suddenly Mibs finds herself on an unforgettable odyssey that will force her to make sense of growing up -and of other people, who might also have a few secrets hidden just beneath the skin. GA Peach Book Award Nominee 2010-2011

20. Madapple by Christina Meldrum THE SECRETS OF the past meet the shocks of the present.Aslaug is an unusual young woman. Her mother has brought her up in near isolation, teaching her about plants and nature and language—but not about life. Especially not how she came to have her own life, and who her father might be.When Aslaug’s mother dies unexpectedly, everything changes. For Aslaug is a suspect in her mother’s death. And the more her story unravels, the more questions unfold. About the nature of Aslaug’s birth. About what she should do next. About whether divine miracles have truly happened. And whether, when all other explanations are impossible, they might still happen this very day.Addictive, thought-provoking, and shocking, Madapple is a page-turning exploration of human nature and divine intervention—and of the darkest corners of the human soul. GA Peach Book Award Nominee 2010-2011

21. All We Know of Heaven by Jacquelyn Mitchard Bridget Flannery and Maureen O'Malley have been BFFs since forever. Then a brief moment of inattention on an icy road leaves one girl dead and the other in a coma, battered beyond recognition. Family and friends mourn one friend's loss and pray for the other's recovery. Then the doctors discover they have made a terrible mistake. The girl who lived is the one who everyone thought had died. Based on a true case of mistaken identity, All We Know of Heaven is a universal story that no one can read unmoved: a drama of ordinary people caught up in an unimaginable tragedy and of the healing power of hope and love. GA Peach Book Award Nominee 2010-2011